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My challenge for this month was to learn Canon in D at a decent speed, memorise it, revisit aspects of the classical ukulele course, think about phrasing and dynamics.
Memorisation: I memorised melodies 1-6 and nearly all of 7 & 8. So while not perfect it is progress.
Classical style: I tried to incorporate alternate finger picking of the strings to aid in speed and sound, this worked at a slow tempo but as I sped up in some parts my fingers lost the plot. I didn’t have time to think much about phrasing and dynamics.
Tempo: The tab player was great to help me increase speed (I think I got to about 80% in melodies 1-5) in the last week though I stopped using it to try and focus more on the memorisation. The last sections with 16th notes aren’t up to speed but I felt it still flowed.
Conclusion: The piece is very difficult (well for me) so a month was not enough time but it is a work in progress and will be for sometime. Overall I feel happy that at least I made a start on a piece I have aspired to learn for sometime and was able to manage to get it to a level I felt happy posting.
PS I took the liberty of adding a few introductory bars..
Happy New Year!
Execution: My goal is to learn Canon in D (RC101 tutorial) to be able to play it smoothly, incorporate some ‘expression’ and ideally memorise it. This is a song that I have always aspired to learn but felt that it was above my ability level particularly to play at speed. This month’s challenge seems like a good opportunity to give it a try!
Application: First 2-3 weeks I aim to learn (and ideally memorise) each of the 8 melody sections (some are much trickier than others), and then work on the transitions between them. Once the piece is reasonably fluid, revisit the RC101 Classical technique course to think about how I can incorporate some dynamics/expression as well as listening to other versions from violin to piano. However, my priority will be to learn the song and play it smoothly at a reasonable speed.
Evaluation: I will record myself on a regular basis to listen to my progress and determine the areas I need to improve upon and use the tab player to work on increasing my speed. If all goes to plan then I will post the finished piece (or progress towards it) on RC101 at the end of the month.
@Andrew, thank you for your feedback, as always so helpful – sounds much smoother.
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I chose ‘Slides’ etude no 25. It’s a bit slower than Andrew’s as I liked the restful, laid back sound. An achievement for me was I actually memorised it (I hope!).
I’ve played it on my tenor which has Pepe Romero’s Baby Baritone strings on it – tuned DGBE. I don’t have a baritone to compare it with but it seems to have worked quite well and sounds good. Thought it might be of interest to those not wanting to get a baritone but want to try the different tuning.
PS I have been having the same problem with YouTube including the tab player not playing as the video won’t load – though choosing the synth option plays it.
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
My submission is Blue Moon, I’ve been wanting to learn this song for a while so was really please that it was one of the choices for this month’s challenge. Time was as usual against me this month but I just managed to get a recording done. I found this arrangement a real challenge and difficult to get the swing feel and I’m still not that happy with it. I’ve got it up to 100% speed but the recording is at 90% as I was feeling somewhat tired after a long day at work (probably why it is lacking a bit of bounce and energy..). Another one to go on the list to keep practicing.
@Andrew, many thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!
Congrats @grannieannie!
Just made it! Only had time this evening for 2 recording attempt (this being the 2nd take) so could be better especially those triplets (Duet of the Heart). Wanted to try a challenge with a backing track to practice timing, hopefully not too bad.
Please don’t include me in the giveaway for this month.
@The_Bumble_Bard thanks for your kind comments, much appreciated.
Your song using clawhammer is fab, it’s made me think of clawhammer from a different perspective – you’ve brilliantly showcased how it can be adapted for different music styles.
There have been so many interesting entries – amazing how some people have also written lyrics.
A great month at RC101!My first attempt at an original song. Since I know little about music I wasn’t going to give it a try but I have been so inspired by the amazing entries throughout this month I decided to give it a go. I have called this song ‘Bulbs in Bloom’ though a more accurate description would be the bulb lifecycle, as the piece has sort of 4 parts, when the bulbs start waking up, then pushing up through the soil and then blooming, then starting to wane and prepare for next year, with the harmonics at the end to signify anticipation/ hope for next year. The idea came from me thinking about getting some more bulbs planted later this year.
I have probably broken all the laws of music theory but I chose the key of G, and then played around mainly with the chords G, D and C – I then moved to chords from the minor scale of G (I think) to finish off. I’m not sure I it all fits together, but it was fun trying something different..
PS Please do not include me for the prize this month
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
Here is my entry for this month’s challenge, Mika’s beautiful 4/4 waltz. There are a few dud notes along the way; however, I achieved one of my goals which was to memorise the piece, something that I struggle with.
I couldn’t settle on a song this month and changed my mind so many times (spoilt for choice). I then watched Matt’s really interesting session on ‘why he plays the ukulele’ and that made me start thinking of my own experiences.
When I decided I wanted to play an instrument a few years ago I googled ‘easy instrument to learn for an adult’ and ukulele popped up. I nearly dismissed it out of hand as my knowledge of ukulele was zero and if asked would probably have said it was not a serious instrument. Anyway, I thought I would check it out before dismissing it and next searched some broad ukulele term on YouTube and up popped Andrew @RC101 playing Fur Elise!! I was blown away – I would have never thought a ukulele could sound like that. Finding that video spurred me on to do a bit more research and led to me buying a uke and I have not looked back since!
I’ve tried playing Fur Elsie a few times but it didn’t go so well. So as you may have guessed this month I settled on Fur Elise still a WIP but progressing I hope.
(PS please don’t include me in the draw this month)
@andrew many thanks for the helpful feedback! I find playing with a metronome very difficult / distracting -the RC101 interactive play along tab viewer is a fantastic resource. Glad you could hear some sustain I’ve been working on legato -but I have to position my phone at the other end of the room otherwise my sighs of relief as I get through each part can be heard! Probably need to get a better recording setup! I’ll try and slow down as you suggest and work my way up to speed – I do feel my playing is choppy when I listen back.
My goal : Learn the triplet tremolo and apply to a version of Malagueña (btw @marianne – fantastic performance!). Started well increasing from 60bpm to 90 bpm, but then a shoulder injury occurred preventing any playing for much of January (hence no progress reports).
During this time on the side lines, I have enjoyed watching everyone’s progress and amazing entries. I also delved deeper reading about Campanella method and became somewhat obsessed – a happy coincidence that Matt’s lesson this week has some campanella in it – hope to get to that soon!
Anyway, I changed my goal – new challenge for the coming months; to learn scales in campanella style and some pieces with campanella parts. I will go back to the tremolo technique hopefully later this year.
Anyway I thought I would post what I have done. My first video is the D natural minor scale as even though this only 7 notes I was amazed (easily impressed!) at how campanella (arr by Sam Muir) can make a simple scale sound interesting – I play the linear scale and then campanella. I also managed to start working on a Fernando Sor etude (also arranged by Sam Muir and used in her online tutorial) which has some lovely campanella runs in it (still a WIP). I hope the ‘bell-like’ sound comes through the recording and despite my playing…
Anyway, although I haven’t been able to properly participate in this month’s challenge it has really helped me think about goals and execution – thanks RC101!
Also hope to learn Matt’s piece with campanella and other pieces. I also meant to say that this month’s challenge has been really useful in terms of planning goals and importantly execution – thanks RC101!
Happy New Year!
My thoughts for this challenge
1. Execution/goal : Learn the triplet tremolo technique, firstly by going through Matt’s Live lesson, Ep 11. I will use his tutorial music (first 8 bars of Malagueña) to develop the technique.
2. Application/how: I will incorporate practicing this technique into my practice sessions. I will use a metronome, starting at 60bpm and increase the speed during the month.
3. Evaluation: During the month I will record myself at regular intervals to review my progress. By the end of the month I also aim to incorporate this technique into the song Malagueña. As I am an intermediate player (early-mid level) I will only attempt Theme 1 or a simplified version.
